David Hann—outgoing chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota—told activists that while he was disappointed he wasn’t elected to a new term over the weekend, he plans to stay active in the party and was “proud of what we have been able to accomplish” during his three-year tenure.
“By any objective measure, we made great progress the last three years,” Hann wrote in a letter he distributed to media. “We have completely eliminated our long-standing debt, restored the confidence of our donors, developed strong and effective relationships with our Congressional delegation, the Republican Caucus organizations in the Minnesota House and Senate, and other conservative organizations that work hard to elect Republicans across the state.”
A May fundraiser the state party held in St. Paul that featured President Donald Trump as a keynote speaker helped the organization raise more than $8.5 million this cycle and create an “effective partnership with the RNC and the Trump Campaign,” Hann wrote.
Hann’s parting words looking back on his tenure came after delegates at the Minnesota Republican State Central Committee annual meeting on Saturday elected longtime GOP activist Alex Plechash as chair.
While Hann sought reelection to a new two-year term, he was bested by Plechash, of Wayzata, in three rounds of voting. Donna Bergstrom was reelected to a new term as deputy chair.
Plechash is a Wayzata City Council member, a Marine Corps veteran, former Exxon general manager and investment banker. He’s been involved in Republican politics for more than two decades and in 2021 was elected to serve as the RNC National Committeeman for Minnesota, the same year that Hann was elected to lead the state GOP following the resignation of Jennifer Carnahan.
Democrats allege ‘fringe activists’ led to Hann’s ouster
On Saturday, just minutes after the Minnesota GOP elected its new chair, its DFL counterpart came out swinging, alleging that Hann was ousted “with the help of the most extreme, fringe activists in Minnesota politics.”
“Today’s chaos shows that if Minnesota Republicans regain power, they will be beholden to the same far-right fringe that now dominates the national Republican Party,” Ken Martin, DFL Party chair, said in a statement.
On Monday, newly-elected Plechash dismissed Martin’s words as mere “politics.”
“It’s a blood sport, those kinds of things are put out there all the time,” Plechash said in an interview with WCCO Radio that mostly focused on his goals for the party as he prepares to step in as its new chair next month.
Those comments came after Action for Liberty, a grassroots conservative group, said in a statement that “the liberty wing of the Republican Party of Minnesota that we’ve been encouraging and training on how to get involved in the political process just removed David Hann as chair (of the state party).”
“Hopefully Alex Plechash, the new chair, will embrace the liberty wing of the GOP. If he doesn’t the same outcome will be waiting for him.”
New chair says re-engaging with former donors, winning a statewide election among his goals
Plechash told WCCO that fundraising is “obviously going to be a huge focus for us as well.”
“We are working out the details of exactly what that’s going to look like,” he said. “Globally speaking, fundraising has got to be something we get right. When we get outspent in the neighborhood of 10-to-1 (by the DFL Party), that becomes a hill that is just too hard to climb. So we have to get more focused there.”
Plechash also counted among his goals the election of Minnesota’s first Republican to statewide office in almost 20 years. He said converting more suburban voters will be key.
“A lot of people vote Democrat because that’s just what they’ve always done,” Plechash said on WCCO Radio. “But the messaging hasn’t always been there. I think if we reach people, if we actually communicate with the people in those areas, what are our values and allow them to see that it actually aligns with their values, we will allow them to see that it moves the needle.
“We may not turn any of these places ‘red.’ But if we turn them slightly less blue, we can win statewide.”
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
